OFFICIAL: Inspiron 1720 Owner's Thread

cool coool, glad people are getting their laptops. yeah, i was gonna install XP on it but i gave up on that because of compability issues instead i'm just gonna do a clean Vista install (i know, Vista sucks!!!!!!) and partition it properly. and i got a call from a dell guy today and he was asking if i want to re-order it, and i thought might as well and i even managed to upgrade the graphiscs to 256MB so im back in business. should be here within 2 weeks. nice spec sonnySD same as me, but ive got the smaller screen. and now i can have my sig back

you can upgrade the graphics card but apparently it will cost quite a lot, i was interested too:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=258629


and it seems all the problems happen when Dell India are building the laptops. a coincedence?

 

Is it Dell Inspiron 1720 Invisible?

 

****es, you meant in your signature? I have them turned off!

 

lol btw how long does that 6-cell battery last when moderately used?

 

Not planning to get a 9 cell battery? It lasts about 3 and a half hours plus, even on dual drives, RMClock and such. Not sure about a 6 cell.

 

To upgrade to a 9-cell battery would cost £100 and I cant afford that at the moment. I'd rather spend the money on performance, I would imagine that a 6 cell would last about 2 hours? and I could always find a 9 cell separately?

 

And you purchased a Core 2 Duo T5850 processor?

 

I did, is that bad? I've never owned a computer with processor above 1.5GHz and RAM above 512MB, lol so I'm quite excited about getting this laptop. Plus I don't think 2.16GHz is bad when supported by 4GB RAM.

 

LOL, well I'm not saying its "bad", still good, but I know Dell offers the T9300 2.5Ghz with 800MHz FSB processor as the highest for all Inspiron 1720s.... If you want to "spend your money" on performance that is....

So I guess you have decided to re-order it again, as I remembered a few posts above that Dell does not offer the Midnight blue model?

 

They do indeed but that's too expensive lol I did, re-ordered it yesterday and they promise that it should be here within 2 weeks. The blue is gone, that confused me because why is it just blue unless they've just ran out of paint or toner or whatever they use. If they have then that's just stupid for such a massive company. Plus the blue is very dark nothing like they show it online.

 

Hmm I see...

I think Jet black for laptops are better off, and looks more - how should I put it, professional looking? Than all the fancy colours and stuff? I don't know but I find black laptops make it look slick and sleek, especially when using a 17' machine, giving an illusion like its thin and sleek.... But blue isn't as bad, it's more or less on the Navy side. Oh yeah, I'm using Jet Black as well with the T9300 processor.

So are you planning to upgrade your Harddrive like adding another one to your empty slot after sometime? That's what I did.

 

I can see what you mean, that's why I'm happy with black. I've got two 160GB hard-drives in it already and was planning to leave it. Although I'm might see if I can get a higher speed one cos these two are only 5400RMP. What are yours?

 

I bought mine at the original 320GB 5400rpm, and the 200GB 7200rpm harddrive was added later, though yeah warranty for that particular harddive you added isn't supported by Dell if you do your own modifications. I bought my RAM for just 3GB, then I added my old RAM from my Acer Aspire (Before selling it away) machine to it to make it 4GB.

 

cool cool pretty powerful laptop then What OS are you running because I've heard that 32-bit systems have trouble utilising all of the 4GB RAM and since I'm getting a 32-bit Vista lol

 

LOL, actually I'm just using Vista Home Premium 32. As far as possible, 4GB RAM is good, but for 32 bit OSes, and on Vista SP1, it can recognize up to 3.5GB. But the advantage is Dual Channel performance, which is good, but not really a long shot from 3GB by comparing performance if you ask me.

BTW, did you take a look at the new Studio 17 review? Seems to be as a replacement for our 1720s... again doesn't seem to be a long shot, in terms of performance...

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4471

 

hmmm sounds awfully familiar. don't you think? I still think that Inspiron 1720 is prettier than the Studio 17 although it does have digital output whereas the 1720 doesn't, the only flaw. I would still go for the Inspiron because it's a lot more beautiful and and it's probably going to be cheaper.

Does Vista run alright then? Because I've never used it personally but does it just suck all the power from the laptop? Also is there a lot of compability issues with programs?

 

Well actually I kinda like the Studio 17, a little improvement of the design, but still performance is like the same. LOL, ATI HD Mobility 3650... More or less the 8600M GT. No point changing to it.

Hmm Vista... Not really a problem... My desktop, if you see my sig below is using XP, what I installed in it, is installable in Vista as well. And mind you, I do alot of workstation programs on both machines like Maya, Studio Max and even games like Crysis. There is an old game I like till today, called Monster Truck Madness 2, released in 1998, is well playable in Vista - by setting the compatibility mode to Windows XP SP2 in the .exe properties table. Not a problem.

First time using Windows Vista?

 

Here is my update: After being in boxing for a total of 3 days, my order finally shipped. According to dell my order is in transit in the US. As I am in Canada, it will take 3-5 days for delivery, so i hope I receive it by next Wednesday. I will tell you guys when I receive it and hopefully all is well.

 

Good good hope you get it soon. mine has been in pre-production since yesterday. hopefully they'll start making it soon. I've used Vista before but not properly on my own machine or for a long time so pretty much yes. lol I'm hoping everything runs smoothly.

 

I'm in production!!!!!!!!!!!! I never got in production from my 1st order!! lol How exciting is this? You never know maybe I'll actually get my laptop from Dell. lol

 

Purolator doesnt ship on holidays right? Tuesday is Canada Day...

 

Is purolator a canadian delivery company? maybe it'll get delivered early, you never know

 

OMG The laptop has been dispatched today, the same day they started building it. How cool is that? This makes up for them wasting a month of my time. Anyway should be here very soon Can't wait!!!!!!

 

Does anybody know what carrier does Dell use in the UK and where do they dispatch from?

 

yes!!!!! just got a call from dell today and they are delivering my system on wed 02/07/08 morning time. only 2 days left literally can't wait. i've read over 100 pages on doing a clean install and i'm aching to do it myself. will let you know when it comes and stuff about it

 

same, I also got a call from dell today telling me that my laptop is scheduled to be delivered to my on July 2 (wed)...it would have been delivered to me tomorrow if it wasnt because of Canada Day (holiday).

 

stupid ass Canada Day getting in the way of everything

 

never mind. only 1 single day left. and 'only' that bug in your sig is amazing. i actually touched my screen to check if it's real. lol Also if anyone wants to remove all the dell crap they load on the laptop here's a brilliant thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=157838

 

yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've just received my laptop and it's beautiful. now I have a whole day of playing around : : : :

 

I love you!


Mwah. :*

 

First things first, do you hear any high pitched whining sounds coming from your laptop? Try this in a quiet empty room.

 

nope, only the smooth sound of the fan and it just made its first sound lol

I do have a lot of processes running though

 

I am getting really slow HD transfer rates with 3Gbit/s hard disk from WD.
HD Tune reports around 50Megabytes/s.
Anyone can advise what to do to improve it ?
I did clean reinstall of Vista and no difference ...
Are there some special drivers for chipsets used in these Dells or what ?
I have 7.8.0.1012 drivers from Intel, AHCI mode...

 

check out the dell website for drivers. if you are running an insprion 1720 here's the link. download the intel matrix storage manager the actual application, also both drivers from the chipset section.

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...D=INS_PNT_PM_1720&os=WLH&osl=en&catid=&impid=

did you install the AHCI driver before you installed the OS?

 

I just checked Dell's website before sending post.
They have even older drivers 7.0 ... something
I installed AHCI driver using 'Load drivers' button during Vista reinstallation

 

hmmm, try enabling cache writing on your hard-drive. it talks you through on here, tweak 10

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166532

 

My vista install seems to be stuck in normal ata mode. I thought Vista supported AHCI out of the box? I get the BSOD if I try to boot in AHCI mode.

 

WOOT! My 1720 arrived this morning in great condition! Just finished my clean install and the thing is a beast, I love it =)

 

weyy, same here. it's a beautiful machine isnt it

and dmacfour if you want to run AHCI, you are going to have to re-install vista and load the AHCI drivers before you install the OS otherwise you get BSOD as you said yourself. actually try installing the driver and then switch to AHCI. the link for the driver is below

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...D=INS_PNT_PM_1720&os=WLH&osl=en&catid=&impid=

it's under SATA drives, and it's called Intel Matrix Storage Manager - driver (3rd one in the section)

you might also want to install the actual application called Intel Matrix Storage Manager, available from the same website

if that doesnt work, expand the driver to a USB drive or a CD or something. then when you are installing Vista and it comes to which partition you want to install windows click 'load drivers' and have your media plugged in. then browse to the folder with the driver and let it load and then continue with installation as normal. that's the guranteed one

 

I gather you tried that msahci registry hack ?
AHCI is enabled in BIOS, drivers loaded before OS install and Vista is still stuck in ATA right ?

Stoy:
Cache writing is not supported on 7.8 nor 7.0 driver. There is misleading info about that in link you quoted. Cache works on newer driver but I cannot use it now because newer driver does not work with turbo memory I have installed.

 

oh ok, sorry about that. I didnt realise. Are you still getting low transfer rates?

 

yep, I did some search through forums and no idea what to do.
Interestingly in the review for Inspiron 1520 HD transfers are also reported low, there is basically no difference between PATA and SATA.
Same in this link for XPS M1330, links to HD Tune screenshots at the end of 1st message:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=158277
Transfer should be at least 120 MB/sec

 

Is it just me or does the touchpad for this Inspiron 1720 sometimes not register finger movements as well as it should?

 

that's a gd point actually, it's kinda too rough so you finger doesnt move very smoothly. still pretty gd though. I think if you install the Dell driver for the touchpad it helps things.

 

hey. you know on the 1720 on the left hand-side there's a on/off switch for the wireless. and there's a little light next to it. well my light doesnt work even when the wireless is on. eveything else is fine. the actual button works it's just the light. it's nothing big, I was just wondering if anyone else's was the same.

 

That light does not work when WiFi is on. It is used to find WiFi connections. If you take the slider further (after turning on the BT), a spring-like action will be there. It will search for the WiFi connections, and if there are any in the area, the light will turn on. It only works with QuickSet installed I think. I haven't tested it personally, can anyone confirm?

 

aaahhhh, I see. Thank you very much.

 

lol, I was wondering the same

 

I tried it out and it does actually work.

 

Do you have QuickSet installed?

Thanks for confirming!